To me, veganism seems like a moral obligation in the same way that not torturing puppies for chocolate seems like a moral obligation
Veganism is a costly signal that is important for movement-building and motivating animal advocates
Seems intuitive and plausible to me that there is some kind of social tipping point for veganism, where you go slowly from 1 to 25% of the population being vegan, then quickly from 25 to 99%
Against veganism:
It makes entry to the animal movement demanding, perhaps unnecessarily and growth-stuntingly so: “[the animal movement] is one of the only social justice causes whose point of entry is entirely negotiated by real, quantifiable, fundamental behavior change [veganism].” Source
I tend to want a big, diverse animal movement with people trying different approaches –from “holding non-vegans accountable”-style vegan outreach, to FarmKind’s offsetting approach (minus their criticism of Veganuary/veganism). That diversity will appeal to different audiences and bring in different resources (allies, committed activists, money, political attention). The diversity does trade off against movement unity, though, but I think it’s worth it if we learn from experimenting and retain some level of movement solidarity.
For veganism:
To me, veganism seems like a moral obligation in the same way that not torturing puppies for chocolate seems like a moral obligation
Veganism is a costly signal that is important for movement-building and motivating animal advocates
Seems intuitive and plausible to me that there is some kind of social tipping point for veganism, where you go slowly from 1 to 25% of the population being vegan, then quickly from 25 to 99%
Against veganism:
It makes entry to the animal movement demanding, perhaps unnecessarily and growth-stuntingly so: “[the animal movement] is one of the only social justice causes whose point of entry is entirely negotiated by real, quantifiable, fundamental behavior change [veganism].” Source
Perhaps social tipping points are overrated
I tend to want a big, diverse animal movement with people trying different approaches –from “holding non-vegans accountable”-style vegan outreach, to FarmKind’s offsetting approach (minus their criticism of Veganuary/veganism). That diversity will appeal to different audiences and bring in different resources (allies, committed activists, money, political attention). The diversity does trade off against movement unity, though, but I think it’s worth it if we learn from experimenting and retain some level of movement solidarity.